Elastic Heart
by wstrnplsr105
Summary: "Well, I've got thick skin and an elastic heart. But your blade, it might be too sharp." / Because between the initial conflict and the resolution, there's going to be tears. (Continuation of Cliff's Edge.)


**Y'all better get ready...it's about to get angsty up in here.**

 **So it's not even been 24 hours since my last one and I know I told y'all that it was gonna be a two-part, buuuuut turns out I had some angst in mah soul to get out so I typed up this little (literally, it's only three sections) and this is gonna be the second part of what is now a THREE part series-shot-thing. Cause...ya know...what's life without some angst.**

 **But seriously, I usually just skip to the final part where everything is resolved, but I wanted to give a little insight to the in-between stage here. I love writing these characters, but I wanted to do it separate this time. My goal here is to show a little bit of the process that it takes for Henry and Charlotte to get to the final part where all the problems are confronted and resolved, and also how the other characters fit into that. I want to start including all of the characters more, as I sometimes do, and my main reason for this is seeing Jasper more involved in the Man Cave and all that this season. To me, Jasper is such an underrated (and sometimes underappreciated, not trying to start nothing here) character and this really stood out to me after watching Mouth Candy. It's mainly because of that that I made sure to include him specifically in this one, and I hope y'all think I portrayed him correctly. Jasper is always there for his friends, and I feel like this situation would be no different.**

 **So with all that outta the way, I really hope you guys enjoy this little insight of what leads up to my next one-shot that will be the final part of this series (I guess you call it a series? Idk). While I obviously listened to one song in particular, given the title, I did have a few other songs that really influenced this:**

 **-Elastic Heart (cover) by Nicole Cross**

 **-Idfc by Blackbear (I love the original, acoustic, and the remixes of this song, but the one I mainly listened to for this is the Tarro remix)**

 **-Technicolor Beat by Oh Wonder**

 **-Way Back Home (NCS Release) by Krys Talk & Cole Sipe**

 **So now that you have your angsty music to accompany this angsty story, have fun! As always, let me know whatcha think, love you guys!**

* * *

 _"And I wanted it, I wanted it bad_  
 _But there were so many red flags."_

Sitting on her bed, knees pulled up to her chest and makeup streaked from tears was not how Charlotte thought this night was going to end.

Her feet are sore from running in her wedge sneakers, which are currently strewn across her floor. She closes her eyes as another rush of tears threatens to overflow, burying her face into her knees with a gasped sob.

A small part of her thinks maybe she's being dramatic, but the rest reminds her that she may have just ruined one of the most important relationships in her life.

She figured if he was going to chase after her, he would've already been at her house in the past twenty minutes. She isn't sure if she's relieved or hurt at this.

 _(Maybe a little bit of both.)_

She keeps replaying the scene in her head, repeating in her mind like a broken record that she can't throw away. She doesn't know how her heart could still be racing at the thought of their kiss, she could've sworn that she left it back in that closet with him.

Henry Hart hasn't cried since he was 9 years old.

He and Charlotte had a mutual (silent, but still mutual) agreement to _not_ kiss, and what does he do?!

He kisses his best friend of God-knows-how-many-years and completely ruins their friendship.

 _(He thinks. Honestly, it's just an assumption.)_

His brain feels like a jacked up pinball machine, constantly bouncing from one thought to another and it's giving him a headache as he drives home.

He kissed her first. She didn't kiss back. He pulled away. He tried to apologize. She kissed him. He kissed back. A lot. Cue the phone interruption, followed by Charlotte running away.

He doesn't understand what this all means because usually girls are so _simple_ because they like him, he likes them, they date. It's always been so _easy_ and now it's _not._

It's not because this is Charlotte and he doesn't know _how_ she feels and he really isn't even sure how he feels.

He doesn't even realize that he's at Junk N Stuff until he turns the car off and lets out a long, heavy sigh.

He makes his way down to the Man Cave, not sure what he's even doing here but he's Henry and he acts on emotion.

He steps out of the elevator, stops, and waits three seconds before he hears the door to Ray's room open and his boss of almost five years steps out with a confused look on his face.

"Henry? What are you doing here, I thought you were going to that party tonight with Cha-"

Henry Hart hasn't cried since he was 9 years old.

But it only takes him three seconds to break down.

"Kid? What's wrong?" The older brunette is shocked to say the least, but he hurries over and pulls Henry into a hug without a second thought.

"I screwed up." The blonde chokes out, his voice as shaky as the rest of him.

"It's okay." Ray assures, waiting until Henry seems calm enough to pull back.

"No, it's not." The blonde argues, shaking his head, "I _really_ screwed up."

"What happened?" Ray isn't sure what to expect, but he doesn't want to make any assumptions.

"I kissed Charlotte."

" _What?_ "

"We got pulled into this game-"

"Spin the bottle?"

"-seven minutes in heaven-"

" _Oh."_

"-and we ended up together and it was fine at first cause we agreed not to kiss but then I don't know why but I kissed her."

"Then what?"

"I panicked and tried to apologize."

"And?"

"And…" Henry feels his face heat up, "she kissed me back."

"So what's the problem?" Ray asked, confused on why Henry is here now.

"Well we were in there for like five minutes and then the timer went off and she freaked out and left."

"Left the closet?"

"Left the _party_."

"Where is she now?" Ray asked, worry taking over instinctively.

"Home, I guess." Henry stops, thinking for a second before grimacing, "God, I am such an idiot! I should've checked on her!"

"I know you don't wanna hear this, but she probably doesn't want to see you right now." Ray stops the blonde from replying quickly, "Because I know she's just as confused about this whole thing as you are and she needs some time."

"I know." Henry agrees, then looks down at his phone, "But she needs someone."

Charlotte knows she should change, get a shower, and get some sleep, but it's 12:37 in the morning and she's still sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest and dried mascara on her cheeks.

She doesn't want to be alone, but the first person she always goes to is the last person she wants to see at the moment.

So she continues to sit in the same position.

She nearly jumps out of her skin when there's a knock on her window.

 _Please don't._

"Charlotte?"

She spins around at the voice so different from the one she had expected.

Jasper Dunlop is at her window, patiently waiting for her to let him in and she immediately starts crying again.

"No, no, no, no! Don't cry, I didn't mean to make you cry!" He pleads as she gets up and opens the window, letting him in and wrapping her arms around his waist.

He lets her ruin his shirt for several minutes as he maneuvers them to sit down on her bed.

She is finally calm, loosening her grip a little as she looks up at him.

"What are you doing here?"

One look is all it takes for her to understand.

"He sent you."

"He just said you might need someone and that he wasn't the one for the job this time."

 _(God, if that doesn't make her cry even more.)_

"Do you want to talk about it?" He offers after several minutes of silence.

"No." She instinctively refuses, then sighs.

"He kissed me at that stupid party and I don't know why and then I kissed him back when he tried to apologize and then I got scared and ran away because I don't want to face life."

Jasper lets out a long, drawn out whistle.

" _Well."_

"I know."

"That's…"

"Not what you were expecting?"

"Not even close."

"What was your first guess?"

"I don't know but _that_ wasn't it."

She can't help but let out a chuckle.

"So what now?"

"Well," he considers the situation for a moment, "do you know how he feels?"

"No."

"Do you know how _you_ feel?"

Charlotte takes a deep breath, thinking over her answer.

"Yeah. I do."


End file.
